The Unprofitable Servant: Christ the Same

Friday, February 4, 2011

Christ the Same

Apparently, I've badly underestimated how devastating the news about a certain exorcist priest has been to many faithful Catholics, including my dear elderly priest friend. Some folks are sickened by the cover-up and the apparent blame placed on the victim. Truthfully, I don't know much about the priest in question, nor do I know any of the sordid details. I think I'd like to keep it that way. My elderly friend is deeply disturbed that a priest renowned for exorcising the father of lies gave in to the very evil he lived to expel. At his advanced age, I am worried it might be the death of him. He looked up to this priest and held him in great esteem. What can I say to him?

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm patting myself on the back, because that's the last thing I want to do where this topic is concerned. But in case I didn't mention it before, I came back to the Church right as the abuse scandal was heating up again. Friends asked me how I could return to an institution that had aided and abetted the violation of children by transferring abusive priests to unwitting parishes and then covering up their crimes. I didn't come back because of what any one person did or didn't do, except for One, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the same no matter what.

As I was watching the video clip I posted the other day of Jesus laying hands on Jairus' daughter, I thought of how everything He did while He was on this earth, He did for others. He never did anything for Himself, except pray to His Father. He never told His disciples to do anything that could be construed as hurtful or harmful to anyone. He spoke the truth, and He gave His very life for us. Though He shared our flesh, He did not share our fallen nature. In His extreme generosity, He instituted the Eucharist, so that He could indeed be with us until the end of time.

The other day, I had an awful headache at work, and whenever my head hurts like it did, I think of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns in expiation for our sins. When my head hurts so bad I can't see straight, I lie down on my bed with the lights out. I remembered something Jesus told one of the saints (can't remember which one) to whom He appeared. He said "If you knew what I suffered during my Passion, you would not be able to bear it." I thought of that when I had the headache the other day. Instead of being able to lie down while His head throbbed, He hung on a cross by His hands and feet, fastened with nails.

That's why I came back to the Church. Not because of any priest or bishop or other human being every bit as weak as I am. Just like the apostles in that rowboat, when we take our eyes off Christ, we risk sinking. This latest in a seemingly-unending barrage of scandals does not in any way change the nature of Jesus Christ and the love He has for each one of us, a love so great, we are told, He would have endured His Passion for you and for me if we were the only people left on earth.

Pray for priests, yes, but we need to do more. St. Therese, before she was no longer able to stand, would force herself to take a walk in her weakened condition, offering the trial for the intention of a missionary who was finding his burden difficult to carry. I must do more to heed the call of our Holy Mother at Lourdes and at Fatima:

"Pray and do penance"

Someone's eternal life may depend on it!

4 comments:

Mary ChristineFebruary 5, 2011 at 6:39 AM
Thank you for saying this so well.
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KellyFebruary 5, 2011 at 9:45 AM
I converted during the scandal, and had to answer those same questions. I said the same thing. I am also saddened by the current news, because this priest was one who stood on the front lines, and from our vantage point, was doing an excellent job. He told Sean Hannity that he would refuse him communion based on his views on contraception. I shudder to think Hannity may replay that clip if he decides to publicize this. Fox and Friends also did a very soft interview with Fr. Cutie not too long ago.
This is one of the reasons I am going to quit watching TV. I know I will still hear and read the news, but my intention is to do more praying, sacrificing and spending time in His presence. at lest those things go toward helping all the worlds troubles.
Sorry about the headaches. I totally sympathize. I am glad you don't let them go to waste, though ;)
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KellyFebruary 5, 2011 at 9:51 AM
ps, I saw your comment in The Crescat--you really have quite a relationship with your anti spam words! lol
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TLWFebruary 5, 2011 at 9:51 PM
@Kelly
Wow. I went back and googled the exchange between Hannity and Father E. I always knew Hannity was a pompous ass, but can you imagine calling a priest sir instead of Father, repeatedly? How disrespectful! Typical Hannity though. He never directly addressed the priest's concerns about his beliefs on birth control but instead just kept throwing non sequiturs at him. Father E didn't go on the show to discuss the abuse scandal, but Hannity kept using it to distract from his heretical beliefs on birth control. Talk about hubris!
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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The Unprofitable Servant

Friday, February 4, 2011

Christ the Same

4 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross